Fort Lee
- 01Certified AED and LUCAS machines as opioid treatment160,666.36
- 02Reported 3,100.00 of a 10,000.00 payment as spent6,900.00
- 03Left a 4,500.00 Seton Hall payment out of FY2025 spending4,500.00
- 04Seton Hall police course ties to one check4,500.00
What the reports say,
and what the books show.
Fort Lee has received $365,755.27 in opioid settlement funds and spent $180,641.36 of it. Its largest single year difference between the report and the books is $6,900.00.
The money, four ways.
Four figures describe the same settlement money. Each one comes from a different document.
Certified against the books,
every report year.
Every year this jurisdiction has filed, and the year it has not. The match on each row is computed from the rows, not judged.
filed
- Program name
- Dangers of Opioid education in conjunction w/ the Fort Lee Municipal Alliance
- Recipient
- Borough of Fort Lee
- Amount expended
- $0.00
- Received to date
- $34,565.00
filed
- Program name
- Substance Use Prevention Program
- Recipient
- Borough of Fort Lee Board of Education - Municipal Alliance
- Recipient category
- Schools, Colleges, Universities
- Amount expended
- $3,100.00
- Unspent on hand
- $175,017.59
- Received to date
- $185,017.59
filed
- Program name
- Fort Lee High School Opioid Awareness
- Recipient
- Borough of Fort Lee Municipal Alliance
- Recipient category
- Schools, Colleges, Universities
- Amount expended
- $975.00
- Unspent on hand
- $279,709.39
- Received to date
- $275,825.91
filed
- Program name
- Police Department Training through Seton Hall University
- Recipient
- Borough of Fort Lee Police Department
- Recipient category
- First Responders, Law Enforcement, and Emergency Services
- Programs listed
- 2
- Amount expended
- $165,166.36
- Unspent on hand
- $94,985.18
- Received to date
- $365,755.27
4 findings.
Every finding is verified to the documents in its own row. An inference is labelled as one.
Red with the marker: a certified figure the books contradict.
The FY2026 report certifies a program named Purchase of AED machines, LUCAS machines, and OPIOID emergency kits at 160,666.36 spent, funded 09/18/2025, recipient Borough of Fort Lee Police/Fire Dept./EMTs.
It gives the primary category as Treatment and the Schedule B strategy as First Responders. It reports 0 individuals served. Its Q10 says the funds bought AED machines, LUCAS machines and opioid emergency response kits for locations throughout the Borough. Seven payments make the figure to the cent. Stryker purchase order 25-05183, written 10/14/2025 and paid by check 15972 on 01/15/2026, charged 16,018.76 to account G-02-40-0924-000 and 44,924.36 and 96,652.00 to account 5-01-41-9001-004, 157,595.12 in all. Each Stryker line reads only QUOTE. Four V.E. Ralph & Son invoices paid 09/18/2025 and 11/06/2025 come to 3,071.24 and carry invoice numbers only. An AED is a defibrillator and a LUCAS machine is a mechanical CPR device. Both treat cardiac arrest. Neither treats opioid use disorder. The First Responders strategy in Exhibit E adds two uses to the first-responder items in sections C, D and H: education of first responders on handling fentanyl and other drugs, and wellness support for first responders. No listed use in C, D, H or I covers defibrillators or CPR devices, and no overdose program using this equipment is documented.
program-misclassification · 5 documents · 10/03/2026The FY2024 report certifies 3,100.00 expended and 0.00 appropriated or encumbered in the period 07/01/2023 to 06/30/2024.
Its one program, Substance Use Prevention Program, names the Board of Education and the Municipal Alliance as recipient and is funded at 10,000.00, with 3,100.00 expended and 6,900.00 encumbered or appropriated. The opioid line 3-01-41-9001-004 shows one payment in the period, purchase order 23-06043 to the Fort Lee Board of Education for 10,000.00, check 7283 on 12/07/2023. Nothing was open on the line on 06/30/2024. The next order was entered 09/26/2024. The report's own on-hand figure, 175,017.59, is the 185,017.59 received less the full 10,000.00. The same report certifies 0.00 encumbered on page 1 and 6,900.00 encumbered on page 3. Neither later report certifies the 6,900.00 as spent.
self-contradiction · 3 documents · 10/03/2026The FY2025 report certifies 975.00 expended in the period 07/01/2024 to 06/30/2025, all of it one program, Fort Lee High School Opioid Awareness.
The opioid line 3-01-41-9001-004 shows purchase order 24-05880 to Seton Hall University, invoice INV-0301932, 4,500.00, encumbered 11/19/2024 and open on 12/31/2024. The line's 34,565.00 appropriation less the 10,975.00 paid and the 4,500.00 order left 19,090.00, the amount that became grant account G-02-40-0924-000. The Seton Hall vendor history shows the same order and invoice paid by check 12743 on 03/21/2025 through accounts payable. That is inside the period. The certified 975.00 is the 5,475.00 paid in the period less the Seton Hall payment. The same report says the Borough is furthering the education of its police department by having officers go to training courses through Seton Hall University. No report lists the 03/21/2025 payment.
misreported-expenditure · 3 documents · 10/03/2026The FY2026 report certifies Police Department Training through Seton Hall University at 4,500.00, described as Operational Readiness for Police Officers, Practical Strategies for addressing Opioid use Disorder and Co-Occurring Conditions, attended by 10 officers.
Purchase order 25-05195, Certificate Program for Police, paid by check 15123 on 11/06/2025 from account 5-01-41-9001-004, is that figure to the cent. Training law enforcement on addressing the needs of people with opioid use disorder is among the uses Exhibit E lists.
conforming-spending · 3 documents · 10/03/2026The ledger, as printed.
Account 3-01-41-9001-004, as printed from the jurisdiction's own accounting system. Classification follows the Exhibit E gates.
| Date | Check | PO | Payee and description | Amount | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/07/2023 | 7283 | 23-06043 | FORT LEE BOARD OF EDUCATION · MONIES TO BE USED BY THE FORT LEE BOE | 10,000.00 | Paid · Unverified |
| 10/17/2024 | 10749 | 24-04887 | FORT LEE BOARD OF EDUCATION · MONIES TO BE USED FOR OPIOID | 975.00 | Paid · Unverified |
| 03/21/2025 | 12743 | 24-05880 | SETON HALL UNIVERSITY · INV-0301932 | 4,500.00 | Paid · Unverified |
| 09/18/2025 | 14639 | 25-04050 | V.E. RALPH & SON, INC. · INV#487075 | 67.66 | Paid · Unverified |
| 09/18/2025 | 14639 | 25-04050 | V.E. RALPH & SON, INC. · INV#487135 | 1,542.51 | Paid · Unverified |
| 09/18/2025 | 14681 | 25-04536 | V.E. RALPH & SON, INC. · INV#486962 | 107.87 | Paid · Unverified |
| 11/06/2025 | 15123 | 25-05195 | SETON HALL UNIVERSITY · Certificate Program for Police | 4,500.00 | Paid · Conforming |
| 11/06/2025 | 15146 | 25-05182 | V.E. RALPH & SON, INC. · INV#489283 | 1,353.20 | Paid · Unverified |
| 01/15/2026 | 15972 | 25-05183 | STRYKER · QUOTE | 44,924.36 | Paid · Non-conforming |
| 01/15/2026 | 15972 | 25-05183 | STRYKER · QUOTE | 16,018.76 | Paid · Non-conforming |
| 01/15/2026 | 15972 | 25-05183 | STRYKER · QUOTE | 96,652.00 | Paid · Non-conforming |
| 04/30/2026 | ACH - PNC | R 3742 | OPIOID SETTLEMENT - WALGREENS | 5,930.38 | Receipt |
| 06/16/2026 | ACH - PNC | R 4012 | NATIONAL OPIOID ABATEMENT SETTLEMENT | 3,573.70 | Receipt |
| 07/24/2026 | ACH - PNC | R 4159 | NATIONAL OPIOID SETTLEMENT FUND | 24,365.90 | Receipt |
| 07/24/2026 | ACH - PNC | R 4159 | NATIONAL OPIOID TRUST - TEVA | 7,067.14 | Receipt |
| 07/24/2026 | ACH - PNC | R 4159 | NATIONAL OPIOID TRUST - CVS | 12,882.40 | Receipt |
| 07/24/2026 | ACH - PNC | R 4159 | NATIONAL OPIOID TRUST - ALLERGAN | 7,287.49 | Receipt |
| 08/25/2026 | open | 26-04072 | STRYKER · OPIOID SUPPLIES | 43,757.80 | Open encumbrance · Unverified |
| Total paid | 180,641.36 | ||||
| Conforming abatement spending | 4,500.00 |
Vendors, and what paid them before.
What fund carried each payee before the opioid account, and how large the opioid slice is against the whole relationship. Bars share one scale.
Full width is $157,595.12, the largest payee total. Solid is the opioid account. Hatched is every other fund.
All documents are public records produced by the jurisdiction. Titles are the documents' own.
No dated event is published for this jurisdiction yet.
No correction received from this jurisdiction. If a figure on this page is wrong, send the record that shows it. The response is published here word for word.
Correct the recordCan opioid settlement money be spent on police cars or license plate readers?
No. Exhibit E of the national settlement lists the approved uses: treatment, recovery, prevention, harm reduction and related supports. Vehicles and surveillance hardware are not among the uses it lists, and state law bars using the funds to replace money a town would otherwise have spent.The approved uses
What did Fort Lee tell the State it spent the money on?
It certified 5 programs to the Department of Human Services. Each program, its recipient and its amount are reproduced above, beside the payments in the account.See the reports
How was this grade computed?
By code, from a published rubric: reporting integrity 50 percent, spending conformity 40 percent, transparency 10 percent, with hard caps for a certified program that has no payee in the books, for an uncertified transfer out, and for a records refusal.The rubric
Articles about this town
Fort Lee
Fort Lee certified 160,666.36 of defibrillators, mechanical CPR machines and medical supplies to the State as opioid treatment that served no one, and its FY2024 and FY2025 reports do not match its own books.